There can be (and often is) a tension between our call to Christ and the way that we are to view the earthly "kingdom" or nation where we have been sovereignly placed by the providence of God.

These thoughts came to mind yesterday as I attended an event honoring veterans like me. There were other veterans there, some of them quite distinguished and some of them bearing the wounds of their service. There were good words said and gratitude extended and I appreciated the effort.

It occurred to me though that the idea of "patriotism" being a "good thing" is inadequate. As I listened to some young people speak about things that they didn't really understand, I could not help but think of those enemy soldiers who died in the service of their country. Not every German soldier or sailor was a Nazi. Not every young North Korean or Chinese or Viet Cong or North Vietnamese that took up arms was evil in the same sense as, say, a member of one of the outlaw gangs that terrorize Baltimore in pursuit of power and wealth in the drug trade. No, those young men (and women in some cases) considered themselves "patriots" also... and by strict definition, they were. Yet we killed them... in their thousands... because that was the job that had to be done.

Someone once said that "history is written by the victors" and there is truth there. The black picture of Kaiser Wilhelm that was and is promoted as the scourge against whom World War I was fought forgets that he tried to get his relative, the Czar of Russia, to not mobilize in defense of Serbia. The Nazi's were evil and they had to be destroyed... but we forget that in 1937-8 they could have been defeated in relatively short order by a united world opinion accompanied by decisive action. The only point I am making here is that in every war there is plentry of blame to go around and viewing both sides, even our own country's role, in terms of strict black and white distinctions, is not, in my mind, patriotism. To do so is to open the door for scoundrels to use a false "patriotism" as the propaganda tool to further their own plans, often with malicious intent.

After all, it was an appeal to patriotism that formed the basis of Hitler's power.

So... how do I think Christians should understand "patriotism?" I think a true patriot is a person who knows what is right and good and wants what is right and good for his or her country... whether his or her country agrees with him or her or not.

The true patriot is the prophet who speaks and acts for truth and zealously desires for his countrymen to understand the truth and follow it. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German patriot and he died for his country at the hands of his country men. Martin Luther King was a patriot when he wrote from a Birmingham jail cell. In my opinion, Robert E. Lee was a patriot in the same category as George Washington. Both took up arms against their original country, defending the principle of a higher good. Both were professional military men of established reputation in the arms of their first country... but principle moved them to action in opposition to that country.

Whatever the view one has of any or all of those men used as examples, the principle I think holds. A true patriot sees beyond his country to the land which is beyond it... the land of established principle grounded in eternal values. Apart from that vision a person's "patriotism" is blind faith in fallible leadership and is subject to emotional manipulation.

David was a patriot and he fought Goliath for his country. But he saw Goliath for what he was... an enemy of Truth... an enemy of God... a threat to all that is pure and noble in any venue. David wanted what was best for his country because he saw and understood what was best for it, and where bigger, stronger, tougher men quaked in their boots, the puny little shepherd boy took up his sling and did the job he had to do.

True patriotism hates any idea of "'my country', right or wrong, but 'my country' ". True patriotism rather says... "What is right... is right for my country.. and it is what is right for every country" and then acts and speaks in accordance with that principle.

A true patriot is his country's most severe critic as well as its most ardent supporter, and when the occasion requires it, he or she will take up arms, if necessary, to advance what is good for his or her country, no matter whether the enemy is "foreign or domestic."

What must be understood is that apart from a clearly articulated and understood moral platform that is grounded on transcendent principles, no person can truly lay claim to the adjective "patriot". We have had enough experience with jackanapes who start wars to solve their own domestic problems. We have clear challenges ahead of us that only true patriots will be able and willing to face and solve if this country is to survive and prosper. It is time for all the citizens of this country to face their patriotic duty... to show themselves as patriots... and not just to expect it of our military.

Goliath is brandishing his shield and sword and taunting the army of the Lord yet today. He must be opposed and those who are true patriots will do so... because they know what is right... on what basis what is right is determined... and what weapons they need to employ to defeat him.